Against the Groen(ing): Homer's Odyssey - Episode 3
Posted by Cory Lynn Schibler on 10.05.2007
I should've known it was you, Simpson.
Every once in a while you have to go Against the Groen(ing)! Wow, I’m so going to run out of clever intros before I get done with season 1. Anyways I’m Cory Schibler back to bring you another exciting episode of The Simpsons . Up today is Homer’s Odyssey or as it is called in the liner notes for the season 1 boxed set, “An action-adventure tale aflame with danger and municipal code violations.” Another interesting note, this is the first script ever completed for the show, even though it is the third episode. So let’s get to it.
Original Air date: January 21, 1990 Production Code: 7G03
This episode was written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky and directed by Wesley Archer.
Principal Cast Homer: Dan Castellaneta Marge: Julie Kavner Bart: Nancy Cartwright Lisa: Yeardley Smith Charles Montgomery Burns: Harry Shearer Waylon Smithers: Harry Shearer
Chalkboard Gag: “I will not skateboard in the halls.”
Couch Gag: the entire family tries to squeeze onto the couch, and it collapses underneath them.
We open with Bart’s class preparing to load up for a field trip, which starts with Mrs. Krabapple saying that they do not want a repeat of what happened at the state prison. Bart then swears that he didn’t unlock that door. Pot smoking bus driver shows up telling the kids “party hardy equals tardy.” Bart is stuck sitting next to Wendell, who gets sick every time they go somewhere. Mrs. Krabapple tells them not to stick their arms out the window, because they all know about the kid whose arm was ripped off by a truck. Remember that line, because the punch line is not for another two episodes. Bart is told that if he gets in trouble again, he will have to sing in front of the class. I personally wouldn’t even consider that a punishment and neither does Bart who is forced to sing after Sherri and Terri, the purple-headed twins, kiss him on the cheek and cause him to shriek in horror. Of course, Bart makes a laughing stock out of his punishment. Bart goes to congratulate Wendell for making it without upchucking, and when he slaps him on the back he throws up.
The kids arrive at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, where Mr. Smithers is teaching the children about nuclear energy with a film called “Our Misunderstood Friend.” We then meet Smilin’ Joe Fission, who some of you may remember from the Bart’s Nightmare video game. He sweeps the leftover byproducts from the nuclear factory under the rug, where “nobody can find it for millions of years.” On cue, some of that waste escapes and Joe kicks it off the screen. They must have been fighting under Pride rules. Anyways, Smithers then takes the students on a tour.
In the first walkway, Smithers shows the children where the power plant’s water rejoins the rest of the water supply. It is here that we see the 3-eyed fish Blinky for the first time (he’ll come up later too). The twins continue to belittle Bart, saying that Homer is incompetent. Here is there exchange.
Bart: “What does incompetent mean?” Twins: “It means he spends more time yakking and scarfing down doughnuts than doing his job.” Bart: “Oh ok, I thought you were putting him down.”
We then see Homer sitting in a small cart with his feet up and coffee and a doughnut in his hand, talking to a coworker and saying that no one could tell the difference between his doughnut and ones that had been cooked that morning. Homer then gets distracted by Bart and crashes his cart into a nuclear steam pipe. The Twins’ dad then fires him.
At the kitchen table the next morning, the family is trying to cheer up Homer. Lisa is searching the classifieds, while Marge is full of cherry optimism telling Homer “you’ve had plenty of industrial accidents and you’ve always bounced back…” Homer says that he is young and willing to do anything and so he is certain he will find a job. We then see a montage of the door repeatedly being slammed in Homer’s face.
So like any jobless bum, Homer hits the bar. Moe the bartender answers the phone to the first of many prank calls that will happen in this series, the first of which is Mr. I. P. Freely. Moe then promises to slice Bart’s heart in half. Homer then runs out of beer money, but is refused a tab because Moe doesn’t think he’ll ever get another job. Moe tells him not to worry because they are still friends.
Marge tells Homer that her old boss told her that she could always come back to her old job if she needed to. Homer asks if she remembers how and Marge says it is just like riding a bike. We then see that Marge’s old job was at a diner like Sonic, where the waitresses wear roller skates and bring you your food at the car. They don’t do that at Sonic anymore, and Lord knows the girls that work at the ones around here are too air-headed to be able to do that without dumping the food everywhere, but it used to be quite common.
Meanwhile, the Simpson kids are trying to get their dad to eat and get off the couch. Bart says that the only thing left for them to do is to take advantage of their dad. He then gets Homer to sign his report card which has the following grades; U, F, U, F, U, D. The D was in Physical Education. What an overachiever. We then find out that Homer is watching Loaftime, the channel for the unemployed. The first commercial is for tips on winning the lottery. The second announcer then comes on the air and says this:
Announcer: “Unemployed? Out of Work? Sober? You sat around the house all day, but now it’s Duff time. Duff, the beer that makes days fly by.
Homer: “Beer. Now there’s a temporary solution.”
When Homer goes to search out beer in the fridge, he instead finds a cake that says “Don’t worry dad, things will get better.” Homer curses and tosses the cake aside, saying that he needs money. We then see Homer sneaking into Bart’s room and stealing Bart’s piggy bank. He moans that it is not even enough to buy a beer, but then stops and double checks to make sure it is not enough. He then writes an apparent suicide note to his family. We then see Homer tying a boulder to his waist and carrying it all the way to a cliff where he can throw himself off. An old couple sees him from their porch and the wife remarks that it looks like he is going to kill himself. Her husband says he might just be walking the boulder.
Homer finally reaches the bridge, but his family reaches him before he can jump. On the way to the bridge both Homer and his family are nearly struck by cars. Homer then determines that it is his responsibility to make sure a stop sign gets put in at that intersection.
At the city council meeting, we learn from Police Chief Wiggum that the city is under siege by a graffiti vandal known only as “El Barto.” This of course, is the pen name of one Bartholomew Jo-Jo Simpson, otherwise known as Bart. The composite sketch that the police have looks just like Bart, except 20- 30 years older and with a cigarette in his mouth.
Homer now gets to address the town, which he does by saying “men, women, children, and retired persons with nothing better to do.” Homer has planned out a very complicated and well thought out speech, which is cut short by the councilmen who only want to hear what he wants. Upon hearing that he wants a stop sign at “D” street and 12th, they immediately approve the idea. This leads to a montage of newspaper headlines of Homer making things safer in Springfield. As these ads go along, they eventually become very condescending of Homer. Homer is left unsatisfied and has decided that the biggest danger is the power plant.
We then go to a protest rally in front of the power plant, where Homer’s introducer is naming some of the things that he has done such as a “dip” sign, a speed bump, and then at the “15 mile an hour sign on Main Street.” This last improvement is met with a chorus of boos. Burns, Homer’s former boss, is watching from his office. He wants to know who Homer is. Smithers informs him that they used to employ him and he was fired for gross incompetence. Mr. Burns brings Homer in and offers him the job of safety inspector. Homer tells him that he caused more accidents than anyone, including some that they didn’t know about. After an inner monologue that would make even Stephen Hawking confused, Homer accepts the job. His first official act is to tell the protest mob that the plant is safe. He buckles under the pressure and comes back in to tell Mr. Burns that he can’t do it, which leads to this fantastic exchange.
Mr. Burns: “You mean, you’re willing to give up a good job and a raise just for your principles?” Homer: “Mmm. When you put it that way, it does sound a little farfetched, but that’s the lug you’re lookin’ at! And I vow to continue spending every free minute I have crusading for safety!”
Homer then tells Burns that he wouldn’t have as much free time if he were to get that job. Burns tells him that Homer is not at dumb as he sounds or looks. Or that their best testing indicates. Wow, that is just a great line. Homer then goes to the balcony and tells the protestors that he is leaving them, but not to worry because he has been named the safety inspector at the plant. The crowd begins to cheer and Homer falls off the balcony, but the loving crowd catches him in their arms and crowd surfs him off the screen like Spike Dudley. Luckily for Homer, he is not unceremoniously dropped on his head like the Orlando fans did to Spike.
Following what I did in my second Family Guy column, I will continue to display to you fine readers my love of pro wrestling. I believe I will stick with the Chikara Podcasts for the Family Guy column, meanwhile you loyal Simpsons readers will be getting a random video from the world of squared circle. This week, it's a tribute to a man who should be a world champion but is instead Christian Cage's lackey, AJ Styles.
The 411: Honestly, this episode seems to just fly by. It’s almost like there is not as much to it as the previous two episodes. However, if you look deeply at it there is quite a bit to the story. Quite honestly, it is probably the best-written story of the three we have looked at so far. However, for overall entertainment value I find it a little lacking. Which will put this one slightly below our first two episodes with a 6.5 out of 10.0.
